Like the Energizer Bunny

I had to carb up last night. I borrowed a recipe from one of Erica's friends. Since I'm not on the CSA bandwagon - I made do with store bought ingredients.
Thin Spaghetti (I picked the whole grain with added healthy stuff)
Saute 1 small white onion, diced; 2 medium cloves garlic, minced
Add Chickpeas - not quite the whole can
Add 1 can Diced Tomatoes (canned, Italian seasoned)
Red pepper flakes, salt, pepper
Toss in spinach to wilt in the hot veggies
Mix it all together and sprinkle with shredded parmesan

It was very yummy. Even Adrian liked it. Travis ate around the chickpeas and tomato chunks. And Nicholas avoided it completely.

This morning I got up a little after 5 am, surfed the web a bit, drank some OJ, put on my best running outfit, and made a waffle with cottage cheese and strawberry jam. My ride, Julie, knocked on the door right at 6 am. Rain was predicted for the whole day pretty much but it wasn't chilly. Hey, at least that meant no hot sun beating down on you. We got our timing chips and bibs and got back in the car to avoid the sprinkles until guntime. We watched the half-marathon start. Man, there was a lot of people for that race. The people who I like to call crazy. I crammed some shot block chews in my mouth (thanks Morgan). The course starts on a paved road leading into Umstead Park. It turns to gravel, then packed gravel into the park where you loop back. The course veers off on to the regular greenway in the area. All pretty scenic and outdoorsy. A nice change from the road races through metro areas.

I had Julie, her husband Dave, and Theresa around me to start - and a whole bunch of strangers. Julie and I were together for about the first mile and then she slipped ahead. I train alone, so racing alone is no big deal to me. I like being in my own head - a lot of weird things go on up there. Sometimes I can remember what I've thought about and it's funny, usually it's just boring thoughts. Going into mile 4 there was a woman just over my shoulder. You know that annoying blind spot where you can't see them but you sure can hear them. Eventually she fell just behind me and stayed there for a bit. The packed gravel of the bridle (not bridal) path has the sound effect of running on Wii Fit. It's kind of funny so I pretended that's what I was doing - except every now and then runners fall down on Wii Fit. And that didn't happen. I wish it had just for entertainment's sake. Going into mile 5 the woman decided to get in front of me. Fine by me. But then, hah, I got around her when she found out there was still mile 6 left. Still trucking along at just about the same pace througout. I got to the very last turn where the race guide lets you know only .3 of a mile left and sincerely apologizes for the hill. WTF? Who puts a hill in the last .3 of a race. Dear lord. I perservered almost purely by the fact that spectators had parked themselves on the hill to motivate you. Then that woman came behind me and said "let's finish this". We picked up speed - probably still looked a snail's pace to onlookers - and crossed together. We commended each other for a good race. Julie and her husband were waiting with a cup of water for me. Too kind. We waited for Theresa. And then the clouds opened up. She had to finish her last 5-10 mins in the pouring rain, poor thing. She did finish and that's what counts.

Adrian and the boys got there after I was done and since it was raining so hard they stayed in the car. Luckily I was able to spot them easily in the parking lot. We said our good byes and congratulations, and all passed on the after-party because of the rain. I got in the car (scraped my leg on a prickly bush - my only injury of the day, go figure) and asked for Gatorade. My obliging husband took us to the nearest gas station where I snapped this post-race picture. Nice, huh? All sweaty and rained on.



A quick summary of the rest of the day:
Dropped Adrian off at the airport so he could go to a conference in Indianapolis.
Put Travis down for a nap, took a shower. Ate lunch - leftovers of that awesome pasta dish.
Took the boys to a birthday party for a girl in Nicholas's class. Theme: Wizard of Oz. Very cute. Yellow brick road leading up to the green sparkly wrapped front door. The table cloth was blue gingham. Hot potato was played to the soundtrack from the movie. Party pictures were taken in a cardboard box with balloons to simulate the hot air balloon. After the boys were sufficiently loaded up on pizza, candy, cake, and ice cream we came home.
Put Travis down for a nap, Nicholas down for a movie, and I took a nap. Rest, sweet rest.

Now the boys are tucked away in bed. And I am on my way.